Readers Write (Dec. 28): Wind energy, pollution, drug discount program, animal welfare, urban-rural divide

The death warrant for the fossil-fuel industry was passed recently by Congress and signed by President Obama. Tax credits for wind power will be eliminated, despite incentives for fossil fuels being allowed to continue.

That seems unfair, and it is. But the value of a stable, long-term policy actually outweighs the benefits of an intermittent federal wind production tax credit (PTC).

Despite the wild, 90 percent, boom-and-bust annual swing in wind installations caused by the intermittent federal incentive, producers have reduced the cost of wind power by two-thirds over the past five years, resulting in electricity from wind now being competitive with any other new power plant.

Since the federal government has managed to kill the PTC by the end of the phaseout period, Congress will have no motivation to annually mess with the incentive, giving wind businesses a clear, long-term opportunity to invest in stable manufacturing, offer predictable jobs to wind installers and develop the infrastructure that will supply the lowest cost electricity to grid, even without the PTC. Wind power will be selected over subsidized fossil fuels based on cost alone. Our economy and our world's future will both benefit.

The writer is a renewable-energy consultant.

One thing omitted under "unfinished business" in "What Congress did for — and to — you in 2015" (Dec. 20) was the historic passage of two bills to update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the federal law regulating industrial chemicals in the U.S. This law ties the hands of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in reining in the toxic chemicals used in everyday consumer products. This month, the Senate passed a TSCA bill, following the House passage of a very different bill last June. Unfortunately, the Senate bill weakens the EPA's ability to regulate imported articles, which will include many of the toys that children have unwrapped for Christmas. The Senate bill also pre-empts states from taking action on chemicals of concern when the EPA lists a chemical for assessment, while the House bill pre-empts state action when the EPA makes final determination on a chemical. The Senate bill would create a regulatory gap and tie the hands of states like Minnesota that have enacted laws to protect families from the unnecessary use of toxic chemicals. A conference committee soon will attempt to reconcile the two bills. I urge Congress to take the best of each bill and enact a strong TSCA that finally protects public health.

Getting diagnosed with cancer is devastating. Being unable to afford good medical care close to home it is worse. Luckily, every year thousands of Minneapolis-St. Paul residents get the help they need from a federal program they've never heard of: the 340B drug discount program.

In my work as an oncologist at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), I see the good the 340B program does every day. Almost half of our patients are on Medicare or Medicaid or are uninsured. If a patient can't afford chemo, we cover the cost. Savings from our 340B program also help us fund HCMC community health workers, nutrition programs and our diabetes outreach program.

Critics in Washington want to derail the 340B program by limiting hospital and patient eligibility. That would result in reduced medication access and services for the needy.

The 340B program helps shield safety-net hospitals and their neediest patients from soaring drug prices and helps fund essential clinical services. It is a key part of caring for our most vulnerable oncology patients.

The pledges by three major U.S. food-service companies — Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Peet's Coffee — to use only cage-free eggs nationwide by 2020 amount to an animal welfare hat-trick.

But it doesn't stop there: The retailers also announced plans to collaborate with the American Humane Association to make other meaningful improvements to animal-welfare policies throughout their supply chains. Our American Humane Certified program, the nation's leading animal welfare certification effort, uses comprehensive science-based standards developed with the help of top scientists and ethicists to ensure that farm animals are raised and handled compassionately.

Leaders in the food-service industry — including Caribou, Einstein and Peet's — are proactively embracing this consumer demand for demonstrably humane practices. Other companies ought to emulate the ethical stewardship exemplified by these good eggs.

The writer is president and CEO at the American Humane Association.

In a Dec. 22 counterpoint ("Don't be misled by autism-drug reporting"), Dr. Elizabeth M. LaRusso defends the makers and prescribers of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs that have been linked to autism. But nowhere in the column does she mention that money and fantastic profits played a prominent role in the development of these drugs. And she fails to mention the class-action lawsuit against Pfizer.

In fact, many studies have linked Zoloft and birth defects, and more than 300 Zoloft lawsuits have been filed. Many women accuse Pfizer of putting corporate profits above public safety by failing to warn about the risk of birth defects.

In fact, medicine and profits arise from opposing values. The for-profit corporate drugmakers are motivated to push new drugs on the market before their benefits and liabilities are fully known. And medicine is supposed to do no harm.